4. What demonic possession is and what the manifestations are of demonic possession

Relevant Words of God:

If, during the present day, there is to emerge a person who is able to display signs and wonders, cast out demons, heal the sick, and perform many miracles, and if this person claims that they are Jesus who has come, then this would be a counterfeit produced by evil spirits which imitate Jesus. Remember this! God does not repeat the same work. Jesus’ stage of work has already been completed, and God will never again undertake that stage of work. The work of God is irreconcilable with the notions of man; for example, the Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah, and the result of this prophecy was Jesus’ coming. This having already happened, it would be wrong for another Messiah to come again. Jesus has already come once, and it would be wrong if Jesus were to come again this time. There is one name for every age, and each name contains a characterization of that age. In the notions of man, God must always display signs and wonders, must always heal the sick and cast out demons, and must always be just like Jesus. Yet this time, God is not like that at all. If, during the last days, God still displayed signs and wonders, and still cast out demons and healed the sick—if He did exactly the same as Jesus—then God would be repeating the same work, and the work of Jesus would have no significance or value. Thus, God carries out one stage of work in every age. Once each stage of His work has been completed, it is soon imitated by evil spirits, and after Satan begins to follow on the heels of God, God changes to a different method. Once God has completed a stage of His work, it is imitated by evil spirits. You must be clear about this.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing God’s Work Today

There are some who are possessed by evil spirits and cry out vociferously, “I am God!” Yet, in the end, they are revealed, for they are wrong in what they represent. They represent Satan, and the Holy Spirit pays them no heed. However highly you exalt yourself or however strongly you cry out, you are still a created being and one that belongs to Satan. I never cry out, “I am God, I am the beloved Son of God!” But the work I do is God’s work. Need I shout? There is no need for exaltation. God does His own work Himself and does not need man to accord Him a status or give Him an honorific title: His work represents His identity and status. Prior to His baptism, was not Jesus God Himself? Was He not the incarnate flesh of God? Surely it cannot be said that it was only after receiving witness that He became the only Son of God? Long before He began His work, was there not already a man by the name of Jesus? You are unable to bring forth new paths or to represent the Spirit. You cannot express the work of the Spirit or the words that He speaks. You are unable to do the work of God Himself, and that of the Spirit you are unable to do. The wisdom, wonder, and unfathomability of God, and the entirety of the disposition by which God chastises man—all of these are beyond your capacity to express. It would therefore be useless to try to claim to be God; you would have only the name and none of the substance. God Himself has come, but no one recognizes Him, yet He continues on in His work and does so in representation of the Spirit. Whether you call Him man or God, the Lord or Christ, or call Her sister, it does not matter. But the work He does is that of the Spirit and represents the work of God Himself. He does not care about the name by which man calls Him. Can that name determine His work? Regardless of what you call Him, as far as God is concerned, He is the incarnate flesh of the Spirit of God; He represents the Spirit and is approved by the Spirit. If you are unable to make way for a new age, or to bring the old to an end, or to usher in a new age, or to do new work, then you cannot be called God!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)

Some people say that the Holy Spirit is working in them at all times. This is impossible. If they were to say that the Holy Spirit is always with them, that would be realistic. If they were to say that their thinking and sense are normal at all times, that would also be realistic, and would show that the Holy Spirit is with them. If they say the Holy Spirit is always working within them, that they are enlightened by God and touched by the Holy Spirit at every moment, and gain new knowledge all the time, then this is by no means normal! It is entirely supernatural! Without a shadow of a doubt, such people are evil spirits! Even when the Spirit of God comes into the flesh, there are times when He must eat and must rest—to say nothing of humans. Those who have been possessed by evil spirits seem to be without the weakness of the flesh. They are able to forsake and give up everything, they are free of the emotion, capable of enduring torment and do not feel the slightest fatigue, as if they have transcended the flesh. Is this not extremely supernatural? The work of evil spirits is supernatural—no human could achieve such things! Those who lack discernment are envious when they see such people: They say they have such vigor in their belief in God, have great faith, and never show the slightest sign of weakness! In fact, these are all manifestations of the work of an evil spirit. For, normal people inevitably have human weaknesses; this is the normal state of those who have the presence of the Holy Spirit.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Practice (4)

There are some people who, when no issues arise, are pretty normal, who talk and converse pretty normally, who seem normal, and who do not do anything bad. But when God’s words are being read in gatherings, when the truth is being fellowshiped, they suddenly start behaving abnormally. Some cannot bear to listen, some become drowsy, and some get sick, saying they feel bad and do not wish to hear anymore. Then they are completely without awareness—what is actually going on here? They have been possessed by an evil spirit. Why, when they have been possessed by an evil spirit, do they keep saying the words “I don’t want to hear it”? Sometimes people cannot understand what is happening here, but it is crystal clear to an evil spirit. This is the spirit within antichrists. You ask them why they are so hostile toward the truth, and they say they are not, and they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge this. But in their hearts, they know that they do not love the truth. When not reading God’s words, they seem normal when engaging with others. You would not know what is inside them. When they try and read God’s words, out come the words “I don’t want to hear it”; their nature has been exposed, and this is what they are. Have God’s words provoked them, or revealed them, or hit them where it hurts? None of the above. What has happened is that when everyone is reading God’s words, they say they do not want to hear it. Are they not wicked? What does it mean to be wicked? It means being so hostile toward something and toward positive things for no discernible reason and without even knowing why. They say, “As soon as I hear the words of God, I don’t want to hear them; as soon as I hear testimony to God, I feel aversion, and I don’t even know why. When I see someone who pursues the truth, or who loves the truth, I want to challenge them, I always want to scold them, to do something harmful to them behind their back, I want to kill them.” By saying this they are wicked.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. They Are Evil, Insidious, and Deceitful (Part One)

Have you ever seen such a rabble of antichrists like this? What do you feel when you are among them? On the outside, they seem to be all gentleness—but when you fellowship the truth and the will of God with them, the attitude they display is diametrically opposed to their outward gentleness, that is, they are extremely repulsed and utterly uninterested. When you fellowship the truth with them, they feel you to be an outsider, and when you fellowship the work of the church, they feel so all the more; when you fellowship whether specific details of the work of the church have been carried out, and how well they have been carried out, they are likely to start nodding off and revealing a demonic likeness, they scratch their heads and pick their ears, they yawn, their eyes water, they might even sneeze. Is this not possession by an evil spirit? Why does their demonic likeness emerge as soon as you fellowship the truth? Does not each of them have much love in their hearts? How could they lose interest when you start to fellowship about the truth? Are they not thereby revealed? Do they not have great enthusiasm and commitment toward carrying out external tasks? And if they are committed, are they not possessed of reality? If they have reality, then they should be happy when they hear people fellowshiping the truth, they should yearn for it. So why does the phenomenon of possession by evil spirits arise? This proves that their usual gentleness is totally false—the truth has exposed them.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. They Treat the House of God Like Their Own Personal Domain

In order to have the brothers and sisters develop discernment and learn a practical lesson, God arranged for someone who had been possessed by a demon to live among them. At the start, this person’s way of speaking and doing things was normal, as was their reasoning; he did not appear problematic at all. But after a period of contact, the brothers and sisters discovered that everything he said seemed beside the point—it was neither here nor there. Later, certain “supernatural” things occurred: He would always tell the brothers and sisters he had seen this or that, or that God had revealed such and such to him. One day, for example, God revealed to him that he must make steamed buns—he had to—and the day after that, as it happened, he needed to go out, so he took the buns with him and didn’t need to make any other food. The following day, God revealed to him in a dream that he must head south; there was someone waiting for him six miles away. He went to look, and right there was a believer in Jesus who had gotten lost; he testified to this believer of God’s work of the last days, and they accepted it. He was always gaining revelations, he was always hearing a voice, supernatural things were always happening. Each day, when it came to what to eat, where to go, what to do, who to interact with, he did not follow the laws of normal human life, nor did he seek the words of God as a basis or principle, neither did he seek out people to fellowship with. Instead, he always waited for a voice, or a revelation, or a dream. Was this person normal? (No.) Some people were able to see through him and said: “This guy might not be running around naked and disheveled in the street, but these are the manifestations of an evil spirit.” Slowly but surely, the brothers and sisters started to see through him, up until the day when his issue erupted and he did run around the streets naked and disheveled, saying crazy things. The demon had appeared; things had finally come to light. So during this time, were the brothers and sisters able to see through him? Did they gain insight into what an evil spirit is, what the work of an evil spirit is, and what the manifestations of evil spirits’ work in people are? (Yes.) Some people, of course, gained insight and discernment. Some people were likely taken in by him, and only saw him for what he was when he had his outburst. But regardless of whether they were taken in or were able to see through him, if God had not arranged this environment, would it have been clear to people what the work of an evil spirit was? (No.) So just what was the significance and purpose of God arranging this environment and doing these things? It was to allow people to develop practical discernment and learn a lesson, to identify this type of person. If people were just told what the work of an evil spirit is, just as when a teacher teaches a lesson, without any actual exercise or practice, people would only ever gain theory and words. You can only clearly explain just what the work of an evil spirit is, and what the specific manifestations of it are, when you have personally witnessed it—seeing it with your own eyes, hearing it with your own ears. And then when you encounter such people again, you will be able to identify them and reject them; you will be able to properly address and handle such matters.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. They Do Not Believe in the Existence of God, and They Deny the Essence of Christ (Part One)

Every church has people who cause trouble for the church or meddle in the work of God. They are all Satans who have infiltrated the house of God in disguise. Such people are good at acting: They come before Me with great reverence, bowing and scraping, living like mangy dogs, and devoting their “all” to achieve their own objectives—but in front of the brothers and sisters, they show their ugly side. When they see people who practice the truth, they strike out at them and shove them aside; when they see people more formidable than themselves, they flatter and fawn upon them. They run wild in the church. It can be said that such “local bullies,” such “lapdogs,” exist in the majority of churches. They act devilishly together, sending each other winks and secret signals, and none of them practices the truth. Whoever has the most venom is the “head demon,” and whoever has the highest prestige leads them, bearing their flag aloft. These people rampage through the church, spreading their negativity, venting death, doing as they please, saying what they please, and no one dares to stop them. They brim with the disposition of Satan. No sooner do they cause a disturbance than an air of death enters the church. Those within the church who practice the truth are cast out, unable to give their all, while those who disturb the church and spread death run rampage within—and, what’s more, most people follow them. Such churches are ruled by Satan, plain and simple; the devil is their king.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth

Many in the church have no discernment. When something deceptive occurs, they unexpectedly stand on the side of Satan; they even take offense at being called Satan’s lackeys. Though people might say they have no discernment, they always stand on the side without truth, they never stand on the side of the truth at the critical time, they never stand up and argue for the truth. Do they truly lack discernment? Why do they unexpectedly take the side of Satan? Why do they never say one word that is fair and reasonable in support of the truth? Has this situation genuinely arisen as a result of their momentary confusion? The less discernment people have, the less able they are to stand on the side of truth. What does this show? Does it not show that people without discernment love evil? Does it not show that they are the loyal spawn of Satan? Why is it that they are always able to stand on the side of Satan and speak its language? Their every word and deed, the expressions on their faces, are all sufficient to prove that they are not any kind of lovers of the truth; rather, they are people who detest the truth. That they can stand on the side of Satan is enough to prove that Satan really loves these petty devils who spend their lives fighting for Satan’s sake. Are all these facts not abundantly clear? If you truly are a person who loves the truth, then why have you no regard for those who practice the truth, and why do you immediately follow those who do not practice the truth at the slightest look from them? What kind of problem is this? I do not care whether you have discernment or not. I do not care how great a price you have paid. I do not care how great your forces are, and I do not care whether you are a local bully or a flag-bearing leader. If your forces are great, then that is only with the help of Satan’s strength. If your prestige is high, then that is merely because there are too many around you who do not practice the truth. If you have not been expelled, then that is because now is not the time for the work of expelling; rather, it is time for the work of elimination. There is no rush to expel you now. I am simply waiting for the day when I will punish you after you have been eliminated. Whoever does not practice the truth will be eliminated!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth

Previous: 3. How one can obtain the work of the Holy Spirit

Next: 5. Why God does not save those with the work of evil spirits in them or those possessed by demons

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